Cannabis laws by state: where it’s legal in 2026
Which states allow adult-use cannabis, which allow medical only, and which allow neither, from NCSL’s state tracker. Marketing rules have their own guide.
This page answers one question: where is cannabis legal? It covers legal status only, adult-use, medical, or neither. How you’re allowed to market cannabis in each state is a separate and longer story, and it lives in our cannabis marketing rules by state reference.
TL;DR
- 24 states, the District of Columbia and three territories allow or regulate cannabis for non-medical use by adults.
- 41 states, the District of Columbia and three territories allow medical cannabis.
- Nine states have no comprehensive medical program. Some of them allow low-THC or CBD products.
All three figures come from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL, State Medical Cannabis Laws, updated 2 September 2026).
Where adult-use cannabis is legal
NCSL lists 24 states that allow or regulate cannabis for non-medical use by adults: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The District of Columbia is on the list too, along with Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“Allow or regulate” is doing some work there. A state can make possession legal before it licenses a single store, so legal for adults doesn’t always mean there’s a dispensary to buy from yet.
Where medical cannabis is legal
NCSL counts 41 states, the District of Columbia and three territories (Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) that allow the medical use of cannabis products. Every adult-use state above also has a medical program.
NCSL notes that it doesn’t count low-THC programs as comprehensive medical programs, and a few states sit near that line. If you’re planning around one specific state, check its own regulator rather than any summary, ours included.
Where neither is legal
That leaves nine states with no comprehensive medical program: Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Several of them allow low-THC or CBD products under narrower rules.
Legal to sell isn’t the same as legal to advertise
Every state that allows cannabis also limits how you promote it: who you can reach, what you can say, and which channels you can use. Those rules differ far more than legal status does. The 2026 state-by-state marketing rules reference covers them in one table, with the regulator to check in each state.
One rule holds almost everywhere: your audience has to be of age. Sticky Cards sets the age gate per market, 21+ in the United States, 19+ in Canada and 18+ in Alberta, and records date of birth at sign-up.
Sources
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